Monday Morning Update

March 3, 2014

Tori’s Story: Doctors told Tori Faieta ’15 at a young age that she shouldn't participate in team sports. Facing progressive hearing loss, she was advised not to play sports like basketball since her hearing loss would make it difficult for her to keep up. Yet, Faieta is now in her third year of playing for Head Coach Trish Brown on the Stonehill women’s basketball team. Through drive and the support of her teammates, Faieta has shown what she can accomplish. That’s something the Northeast-10 Conference recently recognized in a video on her. To learn about her story, visit here.

Inside the White House: One of President Barack Obama’s top advisors, David Simas ’92, will return to his alma mater on Wednesday at 10 a.m. to give members of the Stonehill community an inside look at his new role in the White House. In January, President Obama appointed Simas as the head of the White House’s new Office of Political Strategy and Outreach. In his role, Simas serves as the President’s point of contact for presidential visit requests and fundraiser appearances. He also oversees strategic planning with the Democratic National Committee and local party operations and is the person administration officials on the campaign trail turn to for guidance. To learn more about Simas’ background, visit here.

State Politics: Democrats are in the process of choosing delegates to the state party convention. Once there, candidates for statewide office must secure 15% of the delegate vote to get to the primary ballot. Some argue this threshold is an undemocratic insider’s game that is a disservice to voters. Political Science Professor Peter Ubertaccio disagrees and, in a recent Boston Globe op-ed argues that the 15% rule helps to strengthen democracy. To see the piece, visit here.

Champions: Head Coach Karen Boen can add a new accolade to her storied coaching career: 2014 Northeast-10 Conference Women’s Indoor Track & Field Championship title. Last weekend, the Skyhawks captured their first ever indoor title with a total of seven event wins. For more on the team’s historic win, visit here.

Lenten Suffering?: He is the Director of Campus Ministry and the College’s Alumni Minister, but Fr. Tony Szakaly, C.S.C. admits that he did not always like Lent, the pre-Easter season of prayer, penance, sacrifice and good works that begins on Wednesday. Whether it was the fasting, having to eat fish or the anxiety of listing his sins for the Penance Service, he found the season to be six weeks of suffering when he was growing up. Today, of course, he sees Lent in a different light, as something useful to his spiritual life. In a recent post on Holy Cross Vocations, he explores that transition. To read it, visit here.

Food Fight: For the second year in a row, diners at the Lasell College Chefs’ Fest voted Stonehill chefs as tops. For doing wonders with the humble hotdog, Chef Paulo Lebre, Cook Naidy Ribeiro and Supervisor Michelle Patricelli tied with Bentley for first-place in the best flavor category. Here is just a partial description of their Three Little Pigs dish...a hot dog wrapped in apple wood bacon, topped with BBQ pulled pork and garnished with chipotle ketchup and mango mustard.

Picture of the Week: Retreats represent an opportunity for prayer and deep reflection and recently 53 students spent a weekend exploring the theme of Self, Christ, and Others, and how to incorporate all three into their lives. The retreat participants also had some fun. In our Picture of the Week, the team leaders and Campus Minister Fr. Tom Halkovic, C.S.C. ham it up for camera To see them in action, visit here.